As you all will notice in this chapter, I'm going to give physical forms to the Centurions, for plot motives and for us to get a good laugh (mainly at the one that will be presented to you here).

Chapter 3

The Last Spirit

"Let me see if I've got it…" Lloyd said. "You and Marta…" the red clad swordsman pointed to the blonde and the brunette. "Are on a journey to awake other Centurions like Tenebrae." he pointed to the dog-like entity, which was sitting near the fire they had set up for the night.

"Correct." Tenebrae said.

"But what exactly does this have to do with you being chased by demons?"

After leaving Luin, Lloyd, Emil, Marta and Tenebrae traveled north, avoiding the perimeter of the Asgard Ranch and going to the Tower of Mana. During the entire way, Lloyd looked at Tenebrae, until the Centurion told him that it was rude to look at someone like that. After that, Lloyd tried not to gaze so much on the strange black dog.

When night fell, they decided to set up camp and take some time to explain things to Lloyd, who was still wondering what exactly Tenebrae was.

"Allow me to explain." Tenebrae spoke. "The demons are after Lord Emil and Lady Marta because of who we, Centurions, serve."

"And who that would be?" Lloyd asked.

The dual swordsman then felt something change in the air and it seemed to have come from Emil. When he looked to the blonde boy, he was surprised at seeing the color of the swordsman's eyes change from emerald-green to crimson.

"That would be me." Emil said, his voice gaining that strange, deep, rash tone, the same he used during the battle against Grawlrus.

"Emil?" Lloyd asked, unsure of what was happening. He felt like he wasn't looking to Emil at all, but to another person.

"More or less." the now crimson eyed swordsman answered, shrugging. "But for now, you can call me Ratatosk."

"Wait? Are you the guy that demon mentioned?"

"Yes, I am. And the reason they're after Emil and Marta is because of me inside of him."

"Inside of… Emil?" Lloyd asked, getting confused once more.

"Lord Ratatosk is a Summon Spirit. The Spirit of the Giant Kharlan Tree." Tenebrae spoke.

"A Summon Spirit? But I thought they left the world when mana was burnt out."

"I can't speak for the others, but I didn't leave." Ratatosk said. "I have stored enough mana in my domain to stay around for some time, or until I could think of a way to stop that idiotic war and restore what little of the Equilibrium was left."

"It was then that the demons invaded and the Equilibrium was further disrupted." Tenebrae continued. "Though, I cannot deny that it would have been worse if the war had continued."

"That was the only useful thing those demons did." Ratatosk said in a tone that dripped pure anger. Lloyd could have sworn he heard him mutter something about "humans" and "destroyed my tree."

"Yeah, but anyway..." Marta spoke. "after destroying the government and armies of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, Nebilim, who commanded the invasion, went after Ratatosk and defeated him."

Tenebrae explained that when the demons were first driven away from Aselia by the Spirits, elves and other beings, all that remained of them on the surface of the world was a great portal that led directly to their realm, Niflheim.

"Are you talking about that story of when the world was young and the demons ruled over it?" Lloyd asked.

"Story?" Tenebrae said in an offended tone, almost startling Lloyd. Had he said something wrong? "This is not a mere fairy tale! It's the history of the world where you live in."

"Forget it, Tenebrae…" Ratatosk said, making a motion with his hand to let the subject drop. "Humans tend to forget when it's convenient for them. Now's too late for it."

"I'm sorry, my lord." Tenebrae said, bowing his head.

Lloyd found it rather strange to see a creature such as Tenebrae bow its head to Emil. But hadn't he said he was Ratatosk? Lloyd's head started to hurt as he tried to process the huge amount of information that was forced to him. Deciding to spare himself from a bigger headache, Lloyd spoke:

"Ok, so to summarize it: Emil is the Summon Spirit of the Giant Kharlan Tree and, like the other Spirits, he protected us from the demons, so when the demons came, Nebilim went to him and then defeated him in a fight. Right?"

"Well, I'm impressed you caught on so quickly since. You don't look like you could hold so much knowledge in your head." Tenebrae inputted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lloyd inquired, glaring at the Centurion.

"Well…" Marta said, trying to divert Lloyd's attention from Tenebrae's commentary. "anyway, after Ratatosk was defeated, Nebilim tried to destroy his core."

"You mean his egg?" Lloyd asked, remembering the way Marta and Emil had described how the Centurions were sleeping and the whole "hatching" process.

"Yeah… my egg…" Ratatosk said, turning his back to them and looking to the horizon, thinking:

Great Lords, can this guy be anymore stupid?

"But before Nebilim could finish Lord Ratatosk off, we, the Centurions, used all of our remaining power to warp Lord Ratatosk's core out of Nebilim's reach. In the process, we were also transported back to our altars and reverted to our core state, due to the loss of our own powers." Tenebrae explained. "From there, I think Lord Emil and Lady Marta could tell you what happened next."

Lloyd felt another change in the air and looked to Emil; the young swordsman eyes' color had returned to their normal emerald tone. Lloyd called for his name and the blonde looked to him, asking what it was.

"Um…uh…what…happened to…Ratatosk?" Lloyd asked.

"Oh, he's alright. He just let me take the control again." Emil answered in a tone that suggested he was used to that. Lloyd let out an "oh." "Well, after Ratatosk was sent away from Nebilim, his core stayed hidden for some time until my mother and father found it."

"That reminds me; where are your parents?"

"Mine are being protected by both the Vanguard and the Renegades." Emil said.

"Mine… too." Marta spoke, though she sounded a little hesitant. Lloyd decided not to ask further about it and signaled Emil to continue.

"Right. Um, by what they told me, they traveled around for some time with the core in hand and during this time they got to know Marta's family and another friend of ours. This friend was a scholar and he told my parents what kind of artifact they had, though he didn't know much about it himself.

"Well, after traveling a little more, my mother was going to give birth to me and she and my father had to stay in a House of Salvation protected by the Vanguard. Father says that when mother gave birth to me, I wasn't breathing, no matter what they did. They knew I wouldn't survive that way, but then something happened while they were in the other room." Emil gave out a long breath before he continued, "Ratatosk's core. It reacted. I… remember...I think he spoke something, but I don't really remember what it was.

"Anyway, the core then entered in my body and when my parents came back to the room I was breathing and this mark was on my chest…" Emil raised his shirt and revealed his chest.

Lloyd could see some short of butterfly-like emblem on the blond swordsman's skin. The way it was impressed on his skin made it look like it was a birth mark. Tenebrae spoke:

"That is Lord Ratatosk's crest and the fact Emil has it marked on his body means that his and Lord Ratatosk's souls are merged."

"Merged?" Lloyd asked.

"In another words, it means Emil and Ratatosk are pretty much the same person." Marta spoke.

Emil lowered his shirt and continued to tell that his family's scholar friend saw the mark and promised to make some research on why it had happened. Soon they discovered what it was about and that Emil could, someday, show some of the powers of the Summon Spirit.

"I already knew Emil by that time. We were practically raised together." Marta said with a bright smile on her face. "Emil and I also trained to know how to defend ourselves and when he was around thirteen, Ratatosk started to appear."

"You mean, like when Emil get like that with the… um… eyes and everything?" Lloyd asked, making motions with his hands around his eyes to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, that's pretty much about it. Though there aren't changes on Emil's powers from one state to the other. It's more like Ratatosk just want to take a part in the action himself."

"Well, somebody has to." Emil said, his eyes getting to their crimson tone and his voice turning harsh again. "Can't have him hesitating the entire time." his eyes and posture returned to normal once he stopped to talk. "But… I'm not that insecure… am I?" Emil asked more to himself than to Lloyd and Marta, though he looked to them, like asking for support. He reverted to his Ratatosk form again. "Oh, really? What was the last time you faced a Great Demon without me there to save your back? Or how about with those people we've met? Not to talk about how you get all shy and flustered in front of other females."

"What?" Marta exclaimed, her tone sounding surprised and angry at the same time.

"Here. Let's see how you handle this." with that, Emil returned to normal, just to face an angry Marta, who had approached him until they were just centimeters away of each other.

"What was that Ratatosk said about other girls?" Marta asked with anger and jealously evident in her tone.

"Hum… I-I… i-it's not like this!"

"Are they always like this?" Lloyd asked to Tenebrae.

"Ever since I've met them." Tenebrae said in an exhausted tone. "Humans and their fragile self-esteem…" the Centurion sighed as Marta seemed to be done with Emil, crossing her arms and pouting as the blond boy turned to Lloyd to continue his story, looking a little uneasy now.

"Well, Ratatosk doesn't have many memories of his time. We theorize it's because his powers diminished because of the Centurions being asleep and he's adapting to the world's new situation."

"Since mana was burnt from this world, Lord Ratatosk needs to adapt his powers to the world's new state." Tenebrae explained. "And since we, Centurions, are part of his power, we also, during our hibernation, are currently trying to adapt to the new situation of our corresponding elements. For that adaptation to be concluded, it's necessary for us to be hatched again by Lord Ratatosk."

"But isn't that too much for you, Emil? I mean, being merged with a Summon Spirit is one thing, but helping him on this kind of thing." Lloyd asked, his head starting to spin again with so much information.

"Sometimes I… really feel like I can be crushed by all of this…" Emil said, his tone turning sad. "Once the demons discovered Ratatosk is in me, they started to chase my family and all of my friends. One day, they found I was in a temple and attacked. Many people died in that night and I saw Nebilim himself there."

Lloyd gulped. He had heard stories about the supreme head of the demons in that world and it was said that, wherever he passed, he left a trail of destruction and death in his awake. Nebilim never took any prisoners, not human ones at least; it seemed the demon only considered letting someone live if that person was a half-elf.

"We barely escaped that night… if it wasn't for Marta, her father and the others… I doubt I would be here today." Emil continued, but stopped, seemingly unable to continue.

Marta finally seemed to let her anger drop at that part of the story and continued for Emil:

"After that, we decided to leave our parents and search for the Centurions cores. At least this way, nobody would have to die because we were around."

"But isn't it difficult, just the two of you in this journey?" Lloyd asked.

"Sometimes it is, but ever since Ratatosk awoke in me, I felt like I had to make this." Emil spoke. "Not just for everybody else, but for me too. Besides, Marta helped me a lot during the journey." the blond swordsman looked to Marta with a light smile on his face, which the girl returned. "Ratatosk also helped. He has a great knowledge about the demons and the possible location of some of the Centurion's altars."

Lloyd yawned. Marta and Tenebrae decided it was time for everybody to sleep. Lloyd really needed some time to process all that was said, though he knew by tomorrow morning he would have to deal with a big headache…

- / - / - / -

The Tower of Mana was protected by a range of mountains around it, having just one road of access to the peninsula where it was located. However, since the road was right besides the forest where the Asgard Human Ranch stood, no human has visited the tower since the end of the Kharlan War.

More so, it was said that ever since Luna and Aska, the Summon Spirits of the light, left the world, the tower had been sealed and no one had been able to enter since then. Demons tried to barge into it, but not even their fliers were able to get near the tower due to the ancient protection it harbored.

Emil, Marta, Lloyd and Tenebrae were looking at the entrance door of the tower from the woods near it. There were two demon guards standing on each side of the access stair. According to Ratatosk, those demons were called Blood Lancers. Lloyd found the name quite appropriate since the creatures had crimson fur around their neck and chest. Buffed torso, arms, and legs and carried lances which were a head taller than them. The blades of the weapons were of a red, metallic tone which seemed to emanate an eerie aura. The horned helmets the demons wore were of a dull, gray tone, and covered all of their head.

The creatures also had small, dark, bat wings sprouting from their backs, though Ratatosk assured the group those demons couldn't fly.

"Why are we here again?" Lloyd asked.

"The Tower of Mana is where Lumen's altar is located." Marta explained again what they had said that morning. "According to Ratatosk and Tenebrae, the altar is in the catacombs of the tower."

"Yeah, but it's sealed and there are two demons guarding the entrance. How are we going to get inside?"

In that moment, Emil's eyes shone and reverted to their red tone, signalizing Ratatosk had taken control of the young swordsman's body again. The Summon Spirit then spoke:

"Those demons are nothing, but the seal… I think I recognize what kind it is."

"What do you mean, my Lord?" Tenebrae asked.

"It's a seal that can only be undone by a Summon Spirit. With me, we should be able to get inside and seal the tower again before they realize it had been opened. Tenebrae, can you create a diversion?"

"Of course, my lord. I know just the right monster to do it."

Tenebrae closed his eyes for a moment and once he opened them a monster materialized in the front of the group. Lloyd got so startled that he almost drew his twin blades, but Marta put her hand on his shoulder, telling him to relax. The dual swordsman looked to her and heard Tenebrae speaking to the monster, which looked like a living chest.

The monster seemed to comply the order and went to the entrance of the tower. Lloyd looked to Tenebrae in confusion, asking how he could order monsters.

"Lord Ratatosk is also the lord of all monsters. We Centurions have bonds with the monsters of our respective element. That way, we can organize and keep the balance of mana." Tenebrae said, in a didactic tone. "However, since the burning of the world's mana, our bonds with the monsters were forcefully severed. It is because of this that they are running in rampage like you see nowadays. It's absolutely deplorable…"

"Balance mana? Isn't this the job of the Summon Spirits?" Lloyd asked.

"No. Actually they're…"

"Enough, you two. Look." Marta said pointing to the tower entrance.

The mimic jumped and tackled a Blood Lancer on his helmet, getting up it and pounding on it. The other demon lancer tried to get the creature off his brethren, but the mimic jumped again and tackled the other demon to the ground. The monster jumped out of the demon and started to get away. The two Blood Lancers stood and gave chase to the offending creature.

Lloyd couldn't help, but whistle at the display of the demon guard's "intelligence". Marta giggled a little as Tenebrae chuckled and Emil remained indifferent.

"That was…" Lloyd started, but decided that phrase didn't need to be completed.

"Ordinary demons were never known by their brilliant minds." Tenebrae said with a smile on his dog face. "But they're naturally proud, so they would never let any taunt on them go unpunished."

"Huh, idiots…" Ratatosk muttered, temporarily taking control of Emil's body.

The group approached the gates of the tower, not seeing any other demonic sentries. As soon as they were facing the door, Emil touched the round keyhole of the tower's door. There was a brief glow around the blond swordsman's hand and a string of light passed through the door, like something was being lifted.

The door to the tower opened with a mechanical sound and Emil, Lloyd, Tenebrae and Marta entered. As soon as the group was inside, the door closed behind them and Emil turned to it, muttering something in an unknown language, restoring the seal. Lloyd gazed at the entry hall of the tower.

The entire entrance of the tower seemed like some kind of library. The red clad swordsman and Marta looked through the shelves, seeing several titles, most written in a strange language. Tenebrae and Emil finished sealing the door again and joined their friends, looking to the bookshelves as well.

"These books are written in elven." Tenebrae commented. Everybody looked to him.

"I heard stories about the elves being the ones that guarded this tower and the other temples of the Summon Spirits." Lloyd said. Marta took one of the books written in elven and flipped through its pages, sighing.

"Pity we can't read any of them. Probably some of them would have information on the demons, or even Ratatosk." the petite brunette spoke.

"I honestly doubt it." Tenebrae spoke. "Though being very powerful and important, it was established that Lord Ratatosk's existence would remain a secret from the world. The only ones that knew about him were the other Summon Spirits and a few special people, though they never truly realized Ratatosk's exact role in this world."

"Hey, that reminds me." Lloyd looked to Marta as he asked her. "How come you can use wind magic? Are you a half-elf?"

"I know it might sound strange, but I'm able to do it since I can remember and no, I'm not a half-elf. As far as I know, there's no one with elven blood in my family."

"Do you have anything against half-elves, Lloyd?" Emil asked in an inquisitive manner.

"Well, I can't say for sure…" he scratched his head, knowing he might be entering a dangerous terrain. "Up 'til now, the only half-elves that I ever saw are the Desians."

"Oh…" Emil let out, seeming a little sad.

"But I like to think this way: there must be some decent half-elves out there. After all, we humans should have been as bad as the Desians during the war, considering that the way things are now are really our fault." Lloyd said.

"Damn right." Ratatosk said, manifesting again. "You humans completely fucked everything up when you killed my tree."

Everybody looked at Ratatosk with a serious expression on their faces. The reincarnated spirit looked back at his companions and let out an "what?"

"You know, you really should watch your language sometimes, Ratatosk. It's a good thing you never show up in public too often." Marta said.

"What?" the fierce spirit said.

"The way you speak really made me think you were the kind of guy that swear a lot." Lloyd commented.

"How dare you … ?"

"Lord Ratatosk was never very good at choosing his words when angry." Tenebrae inputted.

"What? You too Tenebrae! Ugh, fine then! I won't talk to any of you!"

With another energy pulse, Emil returned to the normal, sighing. It seemed the young swordsman was very aware of what happened, even when possessed by the dirt-mouthed Summon Spirit. Marta decided to drop the subject and put the book she was holding back into its place.

She then noticed another book that was slightly out of place, almost falling from the shelf. The brunette girl pushed it back to its place and a loud click was heard. The whole group watched as the entire bookshelf partially sunk into the wall and slid to the side, revealing a hidden tunnel.

"Good job Marta. It seems you found the entrance to the catacombs." Emil said.

"Thanks, Emil." the girl said, blushing a little and holding her hands in her back, swinging to the sides.

"I can sense Lumen's presence down this passage. It must lead to his altar." Tenebrae spoke.

"You didn't know how to get there?" Lloyd asked to the Centurion of darkness.

"No. We Centurions are only allowed to know the location of our own altars. Lord Ratatosk is the one with the knowledge of where each altar is located."

"But Ratatosk can't remember many things about his past because of merging with me. Though he still has some mental images of places where the altars are located." Emil spoke. "Tenebrae says that as we hatch the cores, Ratatosk's memory should be restored as well."

"Alright then, let's go." Lloyd said with an enthusiastic tone and a smile. "Hatching a Centurion core, adventuring inside an underground maze… I can't wait to see how it is!"

- / - / - / -

"Are we there yet?" Lloyd asked in a tired tone. "I'm sick of this underground tunnel. There's nothing here besides rocks, crystals and a few monsters."

"We're getting closer to Lumen and if I remember correctly, you were the one saying 'Oh, I can't wait to see how hatching a Centurion's core is!'." Tenebrae inputted, making a very bad impersonation of Lloyd's excited voice tone.

"Yeah, but… it doesn't seem like it is that special anymore." Lloyd argued.

Emil and Marta sighed. After mere five minutes of walking in the catacombs of the Tower of Mana, Lloyd had started to complain. The two other young adults wondered how someone could get bored about something in such a small amount of time. Even the perspective of seeing Emil getting new powers from hatching the core seemed not to be able to make Lloyd's enthusiasm return.

Emil felt Ratatosk wanted to take control of his body again and shout for Lloyd to shut up, but the blond boy resisted the Summon Spirit. It wasn't that hard for him to stop Ratatosk from taking control of his body and avoid having the Spirit cause trouble thanks to his harsh language and intimidating tone. But it was considerably difficult to do so when Emil was feeling scared or insecure.

After walking a little more, they came across with a stone door carved into the natural walls of the cave. Emil touched the emblem in the door and it shone for a brief moment before the door slid to the sides, opening the entrance to a big chamber.

The group entered, looking around. The chamber was very different from the rest of the tunnel. Instead of natural rock, it had smooth, stone walls with few inscriptions on it and, in the center of the room, stood an altar with a drop-like, yellow jewel floating over a spectral, flower-like plate.

"So, that's the core." Lloyd spoke with some of his enthusiasm returning.

"Yes. Lumen, the Centurion of light." Tenebrae said.

Emil walked to the altar while the others stayed behind, observing him. However, the ground suddenly started to shake under Emil's feet until something came out of it, launching the boy backwards. The blond swordsman recovered in mid air as his friend came for his aid, looking at the monster that had come to block their path.

"Watch out! That's an Irais, a monster!" Tenebrae warned them, floating at the side of the group.

Irais looked like some kind of man-sized, brown scorpion, with retractable spikes inside his claws and a three-pointed tail. The scales of the creature were shaped in a way it seemed the monster was wearing some kind of armor. Pincers beat furiously as the monster let out a shriek.

"Seems like it won't let us take the core that easily." Lloyd said, positioning himself.

"Then let's get it out of the way!" Marta proclaimed as she and the two boys went for the attack.

The trio soon found the scorpion was slow due to its size, but it could be surprisingly fast as it buried itself on the ground and came out to attack. They avoided the claws of the monster, knowing if they were caught by that they would not just be crushed, but impaled as well by the inner spike.

Lloyd slashed at the creature's legs as Marta deflected the tail of the scorpion and landed some blows on it, even breaking one of the spikes. Emil, who remained his normal self, was attacking the front, his blade often was enveloped by darkness as he unleashed an element-charged strike.

The Irais then spun its tail above it, knocking all fighters backwards. One of the two-sided spikes on the scorpion's tail grazed Emil's arm, but it was enough for him to get poisoned and have his movements restrained. Monsters of that size had the tendency to possess a venom that first immobilized its victims for it to land a killing blow afterward.

Marta saw that and tried to run to Emil, just to be hit by the closed claw of the Irais and hit the wall at her back. Lloyd also saw that and decided he had had enough of letting that thing hurt his friends. Remembering the Artes his father had taught him, Lloyd picked one and quickly concentrated on gathering the required energy on his blade. He slashed the ground with his sword, shouting:

"Demon Fang!" a wave of energy was sent against the scorpion, hitting one of its already weakened legs and breaking it. The creature shrieked in pain, turning to Lloyd. "I've got enough of you. Time to die!"

The dual swordsman ran to the monster, which tried to use a venom jet on him. Lloyd jumped to the side to avoid it, sending another Demon Fang against the monster, this time aiming its mouth. The attack collided, making the monster twitch its body in pain. Lloyd finally got close enough to unleash the Arte that finished the fight.

"Sonic Thrust!" the young man gathered energy on his right sword and thrust it forward, impaling the monster's face, right in its central eyes. The pressure created by the attack caused a great deal of internal damage to the creature, since the creature's defenses had already been weakened.

The monster gave out a last, painful shriek before collapse to the ground. Lloyd sighed in relief as he took his sword out, waving it to get rid of the monster's goo on it. The red clad swordsman then remembered Emil had been poisoned and looked to the blonde.

Marta was already by Emil's side, murmuring what seemed to be an enchantment. A magic circle appeared under her as she proclaimed "Recover." In an instant, the poison was out of Emil's system and the bearer of Ratatosk's spirit got up. Lloyd was extremely surprised to say the least.

Not only she can use wind magic, but also healing magic. The dual swordsman thought. It's really hard to think she doesn't have any elven blood in her. But if it's that so, how can she use magic like this?

Tenebrae reappeared near the altar. Lloyd took that time and asked why the Centurion hadn't take part in the fight, so they could have disposed of the monster faster. Tenebrae replied in an almost smug tone:

"Centurions do not fight themselves. We employ monster to do so and, currently, the monsters I have now are very weak to be able to fight against an Irais."

"Then how do you get more monsters?" Lloyd asked.

"If Lord Emil makes pacts with them, I am able to restore the bond and use them, as well as recover my powers. But for now… Lord Emil, I think it is high time for us to wake Lumen."

The blond swordsman nodded to the dog-like entity and climbed the altar, reaching for the core. Emil closed his eyes, letting Ratatosk take control of his mouth to speak the incantations of the ritual to hatch the core. Lloyd and Marta stood behind him, watching.

After Emil touched it with his hand, the core started to shine and floated up as Emil opened his now crimson-colored eyes. The grooves around the drop-like jewel opened like they were petals of a flower, revealing the core, which looked like some kind of small, crystal ball with an emblem inside a sea of yellow.

Suddenly the lights emitted by the floor and the crystals in the room started to flicker. Lloyd and Marta saw what looked like flows of luminous energy exit the shining materials and rush to the core, being absorbed by it. The core shone brightly, releasing a flash and forcing the group to cover their eyes. When they were able to look again, Lloyd and Marta wondered if the light had somehow affected their brains.

Sitting in the altar and now seeming to yawn, was a yellow cheetah with black stains along its body. It had golden hair on its forehead in a mullet style and two ear ornaments around its triangular ears, not to mention styled, yellow shoulder protections on its four legs. The cheetah then opened its orange eyes and looked around, seeing Lloyd, Emil and Marta.

"Hey, visitors. I haven't seen people around here for… well, I can't remember now, but it doesn't matter." the cheetah spoke, in a well-humored tone. It then jumped to the ground and landed between the three, dumbfounded teenagers. "Hello folks and welcome to my altar! I'm Lumen, Centurion of light!" the cheetah proclaimed with a somewhat goofy smile on his feline features.

"Folks?" Lloyd and Marta repeated, looking between themselves and then to Emil, who just scratched the back of his head.

"Oh yes, I have forgotten to warn you about Lumen's… demeanor." Tenebrae said, giving a pause in which he seemed to be choosing the right word. Lumen then noticed his brethren and looked to him, with a now bright smile.

"Hey, Tene-man! What's up? Good to see you again." Lumen said.

"Hello Lumen." Tenebrae replied in a dry tone.

"Tene… man?" Lloyd asked, looking extremely confused at that.

"Well, I suppose since Lumen is the Centurion of light, he and Tenebrae are the opposite of each other. But I never thought it would be that much." Marta said.

"Believe in me, you don't want to know." Ratatosk said, taking control of Emil's body again. Lumen looked to him and what seemed to be a relieved expression crossed his feline features as he jumped to Ratatosk and tackled him to the ground, sitting on his chest.

"Boss! So you escaped! Thank goodness! I thought we were all done for."

"Yeah, I'm here. Now get off me, Lumen!" Ratatosk commanded.

Lumen didn't flinch the slightest at Ratatosk's commanding, angry tone, he simply kept his goofy smile and moved from over his lord, allowing him to get up and dust himself. Marta and Lloyd had sweatdrops falling behind their heads at the scene.

"Like you all should know by now, this is Lumen. One of my Centurions and an eternal pain on my ass." Ratatosk said. The insult seemed to pass unnoticed by Lumen as he simply waved an "hi" to Lloyd and Marta with his pawn.

"You look kinda different boss. Did you get a makeover or something?" Lumen asked, cocking his cheetah head to the side.

"No, you idiot! I'm merged to the soul of the human boy who has this body!" Ratatosk shouted, his tone getting angrier, if that was even possible, but Lumen seemed completely immune to it. Ratatosk sighed and turned to Emil's friends. "Anyway, as you can see, he's just like this. Tenebrae, you explain him the situation. I don't want to have a headache right now."

With that, Ratatosk gave the control back to Emil. Lumen just wagged his tail as he looked from one human to the other, always sporting that goofy smile on his face. The group started to think if it had really been a good idea to hatch Lumen in the first place…

- / - / - / -

After discovering a passage behind the altar, the group finally got out of the caves to see they had arrived near Lake Sinoa. Lloyd and the others got amazed seeing that the catacombs of the tower stretched that far. Currently, the lake had reduced in water level due to the drought, so the group was able to travel to the plains.

During the way, Tenebrae had explained to Lumen of their current situation. The Centurion of light sometimes seemed to show an expression much like Lloyd's confused one, when he was explained some things. Marta sometimes couldn't help, but giggle at Lumen's behavior. Emil wondered how Ratatosk could put up with a servant such as Lumen.

"Man, things have gotten a lot worse then." Lumen said, assuming a more serious stance. It was soon ruined as his goofy smile returned and he spoke. "Oh well, nothing our boss can't fix!"

Emil let his shoulders fall, as Marta and Lloyd just looked to Lumen. The brunette girl then spoke:

"I can't tell if he's optimistic or just has his head in the clouds."

"So…" Lumen said, now looking to Marta. "Are you the boss' new girl?"

Emil almost jumped at hearing the direct question Lumen shot to Marta. Lloyd arched his eyebrow in curiosity. Tenebrae just remained neutral, but Lloyd could catch a low chuckle coming from the Centurion.

"I-I…" Marta didn't know how to answer to that. The way Lumen had just asked her outright caught her off guard.

"Well, the boss always had good taste. You're pretty." the cheetah-like Centurion said, his smile never leaving his face.

"D-do you think so?" Marta asked, seeming to have recovered at the compliment.

"Of course!"

"Well, then you could say I am." Marta spoke, leaning slightly closer to Lumen, with a smile on her face and swinging her body to the sides, her tone a sweet one.

"W-wait! He means Ratatosk, Marta, not me." Emil interjected.

"But you have the boss' soul, don't you? And your aura is identical to him, so you must be the boss." Lumen pointed out.

Looking from that point of view, Lloyd could say Lumen was right. When he looked to Emil, however, he could see a shadow passing over the eyes of the boy, but that was gone as soon as Marta hugged Emil for her dear life, almost suffocating the boy, she then looked to him with an expression of absolute adoration and love.

"Oh Emil. I'm so glad you consider me your girl." Marta spoke, nudging Emil's chest.

"B-bu-but… I-I didn't say anything, Marta!" Emil tried to protest, but Marta seemed lost on her thoughts of love for the boy she had in her arms to hear his reasoning.

Lloyd let another sweatdrop fall behind his head while Tenebrae chuckled at his side, apparently enjoying the spectacle. If Emil didn't want to be the one pushed around in this relationship, he would need to do something and quickly. Otherwise, Lloyd could already hear bells ringing in the horizon…

You know, from the way Ratatosk frequently curse during the game (minor curses that is), I wonder if they had to censor or edit some scenes to cover bigger swears from his part...

Jokes appart... if any of you are imagining, this story takes place 50 years after the end of the Kharlan War. I didn't put more because... well, if the world is already like this after just fifty, in one century it'ld be in complete shambles and the human race would probably be extinct. Game Over!

Stay tuned for more chapters to come up, people!